Lodi to address code on med pot

Sunday

Oct 14, 2012 at 12:01 AM

LODI - The Lodi City Council on Tuesday will discuss its options for regulating the cultivation of medical marijuana and likely direct the City Attorney's Office to draft an ordinance for what isn't allowable.

Keith Reid

LODI - The Lodi City Council on Tuesday will discuss its options for regulating the cultivation of medical marijuana and likely direct the City Attorney's Office to draft an ordinance for what isn't allowable.

Deputy District Attorney Janice Magdich said the city Police Department has heard complaints from residents where neighbors have been growing marijuana in their backyards and the plant odor has caused a stench in the neighborhood.

State law allows for the cultivation of marijuana in residential areas by patients or caregivers who have been prescribed marijuana for medical purposes, but cities have the ability to restrict how much is grown and define how it is grown.

Lodi residents can grow marijuana, but the city does not have a code outlining the appropriate way to do so. Police are not arresting or citing any licensed grower.

"Some cities have banned all outdoor cultivation or required permits for indoors or in a secured structure," Magdich said. "Some jurisdictions require filtration systems in a detached structure to make sure it doesn't smell."

Cultivation is the second medical marijuana-related topic Lodi has decided to take on in recent years. In February 2011, the City Council voted to ban dispensaries where patients could go to fill their prescriptions, or cooperatives under which a group of people could oversee a large grow together for the purpose of distributing among themselves.

Because dispensaries are not allowed, Magdich said staff is not recommending the council ban the cultivation of marijuana by individual patients. There is an argument to be had, she said, that doing so would discriminate against a patient that is allowed under state law to use medical marijuana and not give them an opportunity to either obtain it or grow it locally.

The City Council is being asked to decide among several possibilities that have been enacted in other communities.

» Take no action and continue addressing complaints on a case-to-case basis.

Elsewhere in San Joaquin County, Stockton has not adopted a cultivation ordinance. Tracy has banned growing plants for any use, and Ripon and Manteca have allowed cultivation in secured, locked and fully enclosed structures not visible to the public. Manteca also limits the number of plants that can be grown to six mature plants or 12 immature plants.